4 Basic First Steps to Buying Your First Home

If you are a first time home buyer who is toying with the idea of purchasing your own place, refrain from jumping into it blindly. While buying your first home is certainly an exciting prospect, the whole experience can be made much more enjoyable and less stressful if you go about the project with a straightforward plan.

Find your price range: Before you do anything else, make an appointment with your bank to find out how to get pre-approved for a mortgage. A pre-approved mortgage will let you know the absolute limits of what you can afford to spend on a house which will, in turn, let you know what properties that you can reasonably look at buying.

Pick a buyer’s agent: Ask friends and family if they have any recommendations, but take the time to interview any agents who you are interested in using. Just because someone worked well with your brother, doesn’t mean they will necessarily have a compatible personality with you. It is a good idea to hire a buyer’s agent who has at least a few years experience and has a specialty in any kind of niche market you’re interested in buying into like condos, farms, or luxury properties.

Decide what you want: Sit down and brainstorm a list of home features that you can’t live without. Do you require three bedrooms and two bathrooms in your new home? Then list that as a “must have” on your list. Would you like an entertainment room if possible? Then list that as a “wish list” item. Decide which things are required and which things you would like to have if you could get them at the right price. Do not forget to think about the future if you are planning to stay in this home for five or more years; you might be a single person now who only needs one bedroom and one bathroom but that could change in a few years. Let yourself have a bit of space for family expansion if possible. Communicate this list to your buyer’s agent!

Go out and look: Using your price range from the bank and your list of “must haves” that you came up with, look at homes in your price range. Your buyer’s agent can help you find ones that fit the bill so that you don’t waste time looking at homes that you can’t afford or don’t fit your needs. Work with your buyer’s agent to put forth fair offers on homes that you think would fit with your needs.

Buying your first home shouldn’t be a really stressful endeavour; if you take the time to accomplish the job in small logical steps you can easily make it into a much more enjoyable experience.